


Without You

by Xilizhra



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24922069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xilizhra/pseuds/Xilizhra
Summary: When ideals and love clash, which will stand and which will burn?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Bellatrix Black Lestrange
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	Without You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dreamkissed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamkissed/gifts).



> Kudos are blood, comments are food. And thank you all for existing in this crazy fandom of ours.

Heaven was crying, Bellatrix was sure of it. The thought would have made her giddy if fingers of worry weren't closing around her heart.

Great drenching sheets of rain hammered down atop her, plastering her wild black mane to her skull and perversely soaking her to the skin despite the charms keeping her clothes dry. None of it registered to her conscious mind; the heat of blood pounding through her veins kept her perfectly warm as she searched for the younger witch who'd wrenched herself out of her grasp and disappeared somewhere in this sodding wood. Bellatrix hoped fervently that Hermione hadn't Apparated elsewhere, though in the wake of all that had happened, it hadn't seemed to her that her pet had the presence of mind for it...

Of course, that could just mean that Hermione was bleeding her life out somewhere in England while leaving half of her torso in Scotland.

Bellatrix sped up to a run.

Lumos was only a negligible help when you were surrounded by rain and trees in the middle of the night, and at one point she nearly lost her wand altogether when a lighting bolt struck a tree only meters away, the thunderclap deafening. Grimacing, Bellatrix raised a Shield Charm as she continued onward, approaching what looked like the top of a ravine... and the muddy ground leading down to it had, she thought (or hoped, at least) fresh tracks leading down into it.

Sadly, while growing fear could enhance one's skills in many ways, they didn't extend to trying to run downhill in a driving rainstorm after one's object of affection, Bellatrix realized too late as she slipped and began rolling downhill. Cursing, and then cursing more as she tried to spit mud out of her mouth, she rebalanced herself and sprang up as she neared the bottom, skidding to a stop directly in front of Hermione Granger, who shrieked slightly as the dark witch burst into her view.

Directly beneath them both was a rapidly flowing stream, one that had long since flooded its banks in the storm; Hermione's position so close to it gave her pause, and she took a moment to steel herself as she vanished the mud caught in her hair.

"Granger, just what are you doing?"

As she took a closer look at the younger witch, she saw that Hermione's eyes were red and swollen, and she strongly doubted that all of the moisture on her face was from the rain; a position rapidly confirmed when Hermione let out a quiet sob.

"Why are you following me?"

Bellatrix blinked in confusion. "Why wouldn't I be? Hermione, this entire eve--"

"I'm a _monster!_ " Hermione shrieked. "A traitor! I'm no better than Pettigrew!"

Bellatrix chuckled involuntarily, but tried to stifle it; even the sound that did get through left Hermione looking stricken, and Voldemort's lieutenant cursed internally at her lack of control. "Pe--Hermione, you could never not be better than Wormtail. You have a brain, and uses it can be put to beyond just servitude!"

"I let you into the school!" Hermione continued hysterically. "I took Harry's potion and I used it to keep _you_ safe--"

"Are any of your little friends dead, Granger?" Bellatrix asked in a challenging tone, stepping closer. "Hardly. And none of them will have to die if we finish this plan of ours."  
Hermione simply sat down in the mud and sobbed into her folded arms, heedless of the rain drenching her. Realizing with a start that she hadn't even cast an Impervius, Bellatrix knelt down beside her and cast one on her jumper--her outer robe must have been long discarded--and another on those... Muggle abominations Hermione had once called "jeans." Comfort hadn't come naturally to her in decades--even before Azkaban, only her sisters ever truly got to see her tender side--but once Hermione was soaked only from the rain itself, Bellatrix laid a (warm, somehow, thankfully) hand on the girl's shoulder. As Hermione felt it, she slowly raised her eyes to meet Bellatrix's, tears still glistening in her eyes before mixing with the rain on her cheeks.

"Hey. Pet," said Bellatrix, smiling slightly at her, a prisoner turned correspondent turned something like a companion. "I know this is a shock to your system. Shall we go somewhere warm and dry to think about it? You must be freezing."

"When did I become a Death Eater?" Hermione whimpered, her eyes dropping to the swollen stream, and Bellatrix's heart caught in her throat as she felt an echo of what Hermione's intentions may have been; reflexively, she squeezed her younger witch's shoulder.

"Never. I told you I wouldn't force you--"

"I know what you said," Hermione snapped, drawing back. "But why should I believe it? Dumbledore is dead! My friends think I'm a traitor! There's nothing you couldn't do to me right now if you wanted to, so why should I believe--"

"Because I love you, you daft woman!" Bellatrix shouted. Then, as Hermione gasped and froze, she grimaced, going silent for a moment as she tasted the lingering essence of her statement on her tongue. _Was that even... damn it, how?_ And yet, she couldn't find any falsehood in it.

Apparently Hermione felt the same confusion, as she met Bellatrix's eyes, the younger witch's despair giving way to confusion as she found only sincerity in them. "What...?"

"You and Cissy finally got through to me. The reason I could remember the Dark Lord so well in Azkaban is because I was never _happy_ in his service. I thought I was fulfilled, but you... you're the second fucking person in as many decades to give any kind of damn about me as a person. You're brilliant and ambitious and your ridiculous Gryffindors don't come close to deserving you, but if we have to keep them alive for your sake, it's worth it."

Hermione paused, her face unreadable as Bellatrix's stomach twisted into knots, hoping against hope that this infuriating, wonderful Mudb--Muggleborn wasn't going to withdraw, or panic, or even leave--before she ran forward and pulled Bellatrix into a tight embrace, burying her head in the dark witch's soaked curls and leaving hot tears against her neck, a pleasant contrast to the rain. Bellatrix would have been happy enough just getting her away from the stream, but she felt warmth swell inside her at Hermione's touch, and stroked her hair with one hand as she held her closely with the other.

Eventually, Hermione raised her head, her eyes meeting Bellatrix's before they closed as she moved her lips forward, tentatively, nervously. But Bellatrix had never been one for hesitation and she quickly pressed her own lip's to Hermione's, meeting the warmth of her mouth in a deep but soft kiss, their tongues slowly meeting as Hermione let the tension bleed out of her body, slowly melting into Bellatrix's embrace.

At length, Bellatrix heard Hermione giggle faintly into her mouth, and reluctantly withdrew from it, but smiled as she saw Hermione's own watery smile. "I'd always thought my first real kiss would be in the rain," Hermione murmured. "Just not like..."

"Nothing's like what we thought it would be," Bellatrix finished, giving her a quicker kiss. "But it's good, yeah?"

Hermione nodded, a faint frown passing over her features. "Bella... um, when did it stop being about V-Voldemort? When did you first decide to put me over him?"

Bellatrix paused as she took a firm hold of Hermione's arm, bringing out her wand, and giving her another smile. "When I realized the world he'd want to build would be one without you in it."

And as Hermione smiled back, Bellatrix turned around on the spot, and the two witches disappeared with a loud crack, leaving the rain to fall on. Heaven may be crying, but if it wasn't tears of joy at their coming together, Bellatrix wasn't interested in its opinions.


End file.
